


Smile, the Worst is Yet to Come

by IceAngels



Category: One Piece
Genre: Asexual Monkey D. Luffy, Dressrosa Arc, Emotions, Law is very tired and Luffy is very enthusiastic, Law's perspective, M/M, Mostly Canon Compliant, New World (One Piece), Post-Dressrosa, Punk Hazard Arc, Slow Burn, Soulmate AU, and people have to deal with emotions, demiromantic law, luffy being a dumbass, thats a big mostly of course
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-30
Updated: 2018-12-27
Packaged: 2019-09-02 02:33:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 13,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16777906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IceAngels/pseuds/IceAngels
Summary: Trafalgar D Water Law never asked for a soulmate. And he certainly never asked forthatsoulmate.Monkey D Luffy would probably end up giving him an heart attack. Law thought. Every time the Straw Hat wearing fellow pirate bounced into his life his blood pressure shot through the roof and something terrible always happened.He thought about Dressrossa, well, not always terrible... but always always certainly insane.





	1. Set Fire With Just A Little Spark

**Author's Note:**

> This might not be completely canon compliant since my memory is a bit fuzzy on some of the details, feels free to correct me in the comments.

**\--The Polar Tang, somewhere in the New World--**

Law crumpled up the newspaper in his hand and tossed it off the deck of the sub into the ocean. The rays of sun still reached down to the deck despite the cloudy sky and stormy sea.

The article highlighting the miraculous reappearance and then disappearance of the straw hat pirates at Sabody Archipelago floated down towards the ocean. Evaded Marine capture, it had said. Most likely headed towards Fishman Island.

He looked out towards where he thought the red line might be. They were on their way to the new world.

Two years, two years without hearing anything from Straw Hat Luffy, the cannonball of a soulmate that had ricocheted his way through the first half of the grand line, toppling warlords and governments.

Law scoffed slightly, now that he held the warlord title, maybe Luffy’d come after him. He knew how unlikely it would be.

Having met the scatterbrained fool, he doubted that Straw Hat-ya had ever had a plan in his life, more likely he just ran from island to island and trouble found him.

“Has the News Coo come yet?” Asked Penguin, walking over from below decks.

“No.” Law said as Penguin squinted out at the horizon looking for the seagull which had already left. Law turned and headed back below decks as Penguin started to mutter to himself about “where that damn bird was”

It wasn’t just that they were rival captains and Straw Hat-ya was certainly going to complicate everything in the New World whatever it was he did. They were also, unfortunately for Law, soulmates.

When he was a kid law had always loved the concept of soulmates, someone who could understand you, and understand your emotions, who would support each other like his parents supported each other.

At first, when everything terrible happened with Flevance and Doflamingo, even though he thought that soulmates were stupid, he wanted one so badly, someone who understood him, but he didn’t want anyone to have to go through his pain. He didn’t want anyone to bother him. So: He wished he never found a soulmate.

Later, when he was studying to become a doctor, he got back interested in the scientific background of soulmates. There wasn’t a very good explanation for them, why other people could cause marks to appear on people they were compatible soulmates with, and why if you spent enough time with them, you would form an emotional bond that shared strong emotions over.

It was about as explained as devil fruits were.

People knew what they did. They knew about the marks that people who were so called 'compatible' with each other got when they first touched, and that the ones that were two-sided, where both people got marks when they touched each other, grew when they spent time around each other. They grew like any relationship would grow, with time and trust, except when they got strong enough, you could sense another persons emotional state.

People knew what they didn’t do, they weren't magic, they didn't mean that you were forever bound to a single person. 

But people didn’t know why.

When Law became a pirate, he figured that soulmates wouldn’t be very practical to stick around with. Unless they were a member of your crew, it was unlikely that the second emotional bond would ever form. After all, being a pirate meant a life of danger and death, and not everyone liked pirates at that.

So it was almost unfortunate that his soulmate, who was supposed to be compatible him, was both a rival pirate a cannonball of energy so contrary to everything that Law was.

**\--Sabody Archipelago: 2 years earlier--**

When they had first bumped into each other at the Sabody Archipelago, Luffy bumping into him while sprinting through the crowd at the auction house, he had fallen.

Bepo caught him, worried that the light blow, which he normally wouldn’t have fallen at, had knocked him down. “Are you okay captain.”

“Shit” Muttered Law, feeling the tingling sensation on the back of his left shoulder as his heart started to slow after the sudden burst of adrenaline. He righted himself back up on his feet, looking after the figure in the straw hat that darted away from him. The feeling of slight numbness in his shoulder coupled with the odd encounter and the adrenaline only meant one thing. The description matched almost textbook definition of soulmate first contact.

Expect textbooks generally alluded to the idea that every soulmate first contact would happen at a business meeting where two people shook hands.

“Are you okay captain?” Bepo asked again.

“I will be.” Law grumbled, looking around again. He called to his crew, they needed to get out of there fast before everything went to shit. Trafalgar D. Water Law didn’t have time for soulmates.

Which is why Law couldn’t quite explain why he had gone to Marineford and saved Luffy. He knew the consequences. The fading grey splotch which more of less resembled a bird (more of a splotch than a bird, if he was honest) would shift into the shape of an X while Law was wrists deep in Luffy's guts trying to fix him up. And it would stay there, messing up the symmetry of his back tattoo.

When Law dragged Luffy to his ship, he noticed that his soulmate had a mark, just like him, on the arm that was opposite his. A solid black line, drawn across his bicep. Like a tattoo, or a tourniquet.

As Law fixed up Luffy, even though he knew he should have left Luffy on the battlefield, he could feel the soul mark tingle, trying to form a bond between them. It would be a nuisance, that’s all. Law wouldn't let it be anything worse then a nuisance.

Besides, he thought, they wouldn’t see much of each other on the open seas of the Grand Line, they would never form a stronger soul bond. Law had his own agenda that he didn’t need luffy getting in the way of.

When he left Luffy back on Amazon Lilly, the distraught teen hadn’t taken any note of the band that curled around his arm. And Law left before his could even begin make the connection between the band on his arm and the X on Law's shoulder. Between the two marks and colliding into each other at the Auction house. Between the two of them and the strange feeling that Law kept feeling in his arm. 

If he would make the connection, that is.

**\--Punk Hazard--**

Law hadn’t had any intention in avoiding Luffy by locating himself at the remote island of Punk Hazard. He just had work to be done there. The Straw Hat captain hadn’t even held a footnote in his mind, because it would be ridiculous to entertain the notion of him sailing to punk hazard.

It would be _ridiculous_ if Straw Hat was at Punk Hazard

Straw Hat just wouldn’t be there. _He couldn’t._ Law gritted his teeth and looked around the marine crew that stood in front of him on the side of the mountain, but he could still hear the broken echo of Straw Hat’s voice that came from the navy’s Den Den Mushi.

_‘Fuck my life’_ He thought as the Straw Hat crew burst from the facility into the snow filled mountainside. _‘Fuck’_


	2. Blood Begins to Boil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bit about Punk Hazard

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's super short because I just wrote it after suddenly discovering I wanted to add more of Punk Hazard into the Story (Special thanks to Rili for the Inspiration!)
> 
> Also, if it doesn't directly happen in the story, assume I'm just going along with what Canon says

**\--Punk Hazard, the cold side--**  
Law stared at the Straw Hat crew in horror for a moment. Running through his mind was a stream of confusion. What are they doing here, nobody comes to Punk Hazard. Law thought of the Straw Hat crew on Sabaody, and their captain, the man who punched a celestial dragon and fell from the sky into a war zone. 

_What did I expect? _Wondered Law as he summoned a large room surrounding the whole visible part of the island. _What did I expect?_ He raised the navy warship into the air and then sent it crashing back to the ground. As he burst into action to fight Smoker he wondered what he was going to to with this new development. __

____

____

As smoker crashed to the ground and Law held his heart in his hand he spotted the distinctive Straw Hat that hat earned him his nickname. 

“Hey! I know you!” He heard a voice call out. “Um, name? Tra- Tragua- torafu- torao!” Yells Luffy. 

Law stares at straw hat, he feels a twitch of electricity, like a little shock, from the mark on his left shoulder. His hand twitches around Smokers heart causing him to fall to the ground next to him again. 

He would give Straw Hat a little bit of slack, his name was hard to pronounce and remember- but Torao? 

Luffy ran up to him, babbling about his first mate and thanking him for saving him. “Shishi, its so great that I get to see you again because I forgot to thank you for that two years ago” Straw Hat laughed, with a large grin stretched across his face. 

Law was silent. He wondered if Luffy had figured out the connection between them yet. Luffy didn’t say anything about it. 

“Don’t thank me for saving you, Straw Hat.” He said coolly. “I didn’t do it for you, it was a whim.” A voice sounded in his head like sirens echoing. _But you did do it for him, you did do it because hes your soulmate._ Law told the voice to shut up. 

“And it’s Trafalgar Law.” 

“I like Torao!” Luffy exclaimed. “It’s a good name.” 

Law stared at him, annoyed already. No, scratch that, he was annoyed the minute he heard Straw Hat’s voice through the Den Den Mushi. 

“I have a good name.” 

“Yeah- Torao!” 

Law sighed. 

At least Law’s soulmate seemed to like him, it would make fixing this situation easier, no more, no less. Then they could go their separate ways again. Or, A thought was starting to form in Laws head. He might be able to use it to his advantage. 

“Hey I have a question for you-” Straw Hat Luffy asked. Law felt a shiver run down his spine, he hoped it wasn’t a soulmate question, he hoped to high hell it wasn’t. 

Smokers second in command charged at his, distracting him momentarily. 

“Go to the back of the facility.” Law yelled towards Straw Hat, sending him away quickly as he turned to Tashigi. 

**\----**

“Straw Hat” Says Law, looking down towards Luffy. “How would you like to take down an Emperor.” 

The look that Luffy turns on him is stunning. Law blinks. Luffy’s still looking at him like he had just offered him the best thing in the world. 

“Really?” 

Law frowns at the Straw Hat’s smile, hoping he hadn’t gotten himself into too big of a mess. “Yes, and alliance to take down Kaido.” 

“No! You can’t trust him, he’s a heart stealer! And creepy!” Yells one of the straw hats that Law had switched the mind of, he wasn’t sure who. “He’s gonna betray us, Luffy don’t.” 

“Are you going to betray me, Torao.” Luffy asked, curiously. 

“No.” Law stated simply. He wasn’t technically planning on betraying the straw hats, he’s just planning on changing the terms of service. 

It wouldn’t be an emperor they would take down, but Law wouldn’t be around for Luffy to get mad at him, he figured. 

Luffy turned to his crew and reasoned with them before holding out his hand. “Straw Hat-Torao Alliance it is.” 

Law reluctantly reached out and shook it back. “I do have a crew you know, the heart pirates.” He snarked back as Luffy enthusiastically told his crew about the alliance even though they were standing next to the two of them when they talked about it. 

The cyborg guy, who was actually the red haired girl, looked a bit annoyed and pallid at the same time as she watched her captain. 

He let out a small sly and mildly creepy (according to his crew and also almost everyone he had ever met) smile and earned a glare from one of the Straw Hat crew in return. They didn’t seem to like him as much as Luffy did. Law didn’t really care if they liked him, he figured it was better if they didn’t like him, maybe it would keep Straw Hat from getting to attached to him. 

He stared at them directly in their eyes and smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be very soon, it's all written I just might change a few things because it's kind of slow. Even though I said last chapter that I update slow... that doesn't seem to be true.


	3. I Couldn't Hide from the Thunder in a Sky Full of Song

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meeting the Straw Hats after you've already met them (aka: Law tries to avoid Luffy while stuck on the same ship)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to have Law explore the Sunny because it's a cool ship, and also because what better things are there to do when avoiding Luffy? Not much. Of course that does make this chapter rather Luffy-less and long. 
> 
> Hope you Enjoy!

**\--The Thousand Sunny, the New World, after** **leaving** **Punk Hazard--**

Law had, of course the unfortunate circumstance of being stuck on a boat with his soulmate, hoping that Straw Hat wouldn’t figure it out.

Hoping that the close proximity for such a short amount of time wouldn’t cause their bond to grow stronger. But Law knew it had already grown stronger.

There was a point while they were in the underground bunker of Punk Hazard where Law had wondered if Straw Hat had already figured it out, but he later figured it was just his cannonball enthusiasm at play. That it was that and nothing else causing him to stick so close to Law. Law however, could feel his soulmate mark on his left arm tingle occasionally when they were close. 

Monkey D. Luffy was a dumbass. 

He didn’t seem to notice anything.

Law watched him with one eye open, leaned up against the side of the Thousand Sunny as it rocked gently is a surprising calm spot of the New World. His sword leaned up against his shoulder and he had changed into yet another long-sleeved sweatshirt on Punk Hazard before he boarded the boat. Luffy, of course, had shed his coat when he boarded the sunny, his soulmate mark on his right arm was hidden by the light red shirt he wore. Law wondered if he had started wearing it because of his soulmate mark, or if it was just a coincidence that he had switched to longer sleeves.

Law touched his other hand to his bicep. Beneath the fabric was the soulmate mark, which had shifted two years ago, in the days he spent near straw hat at Amazon Lilly, into the shape of an X for some reason. It would definitely be visible if he took it off. And although they’d likely be polite about it, law _definitely_ didn’t want anyone of the Straw hats asking him questions about who his soulmate was.

The small deer and doctor of the straw hats was sliding down the slide that their ship had. Because of course they had a slide.

Why wouldn’t they have a slide. A slide on a pirate ship. 

Law was _not_ annoyed by it in the slightest.

His captain stood over him as he slid down, chatting at Chopper something that was loud, yet still managed to be incomprehensible to Law. The small samurai boy/dragon that they had found on punk hazard slid down next. Luffy had the large grin he always wore stretched over his face.

Law frowned, he tugged his spotted hat down over his face a bit more. 

Monkey D. Luffy was one of the strangest people he had ever met. And he could likely say that a million times. 

Maybe he could get a bit of rest and not think about his soulmate for a minute. He kept running through the plans for Dressrosa, hoping that the Straw Hats would actually help his plan, loose cannon and all. 

At the least they were good transport. 

“Hey, you, creepy guy” The voice snapped Law back to the present, his eyes flew open and his grip tightened marginally on his sword. 

He looked up past the long legs towards the slight scowl on the face of the curly browed blonde bastard that served as the straw hats.... cook? He held a plate down towards Law. Yeah, definitely the cook. 

“I made snacks.” He said rather deadpan, showing Law the plate. It was filled with little cookies. Like little bread crisps they looked like, with a bit of chocolate sauce on them. 

Law’s frown turned into a scowl. “No thanks.” He snarked up at the cook, who scowled back, looking like he was going to say something or kick Law off the ship. Maybe both. 

He stopped off, muttering about Law being an asshole purposefully loud enough to hear. Law pushed himself up off the deck using his sword and decided to move to another part of the ship now that Luffy was distracted. 

He wandered across the weirdly grassy deck and headed towards the back of the ship. None of the straw hats had given him a tour of the sunny when he arrived, so he figured he’d give himself one. 

He opened the door in between the stairs and the slides at the back of the ship and slipped inside. He froze, one hand still keeping the door open a crack as he stared at the scene in front of him. They had an aquarium. 

They had an aquarium. 

He heard faint piano music from the skeleton straw hat sitting behind the piano, and there was another one of them sitting at the little bar that they had, sketching something out in a little notebook. 

He stared up, still shocked at the fish that swam around in the clear blue water. Sunlight was streaming in from the open sea, and it glinted off the water and swirled around the room. It reminded him of being just under the surface of the sea in the Polar Tang, with the water swirling by, light and different from the darker seas they normally traveled through. With fish swimming by the port windows.

Yet now they were above water, but it still looked like the little ship he called a temporary home for him and his crew.

“Nice isn’t it.” Said a voice from behind the piano. Law blinked and looked over at the peaceful expression of the skeleton. At least Law thought he looked happy, he couldn’t quite read the expressions of the skeleton. 

“Hey - what’s the enemy captain wandering around unsupervised?” Said long nose, annoyance lacing his voice. Law scowled over at him.

“I was under the impression that we were in an alliance.”

“Maybe according to Luffy” huffed Long Nose “but I still don’t trust you, you’re up to something.”

“You’re up to something too, Long Nose-ya.” Said Law, tapping him fingers along his sword absentmindledly. 

“I have a name, Usopp, remember.” He frowned. “And I'm drawing – you're up to something _shady_.”

Law scoffed but didn’t reply, instead he walked over to the aquarium to get a better look at the fish. He didn’t know too much about fish but some of them didn’t look quite scary enough to be New World variety, he wondered if the Straw Hats had filled up the fish tank after their exploits on Fishman Island. 

He felt eyes on the back of his neck and glanced back over his shoulder. Usopp was watching him. 

“Do you need something?” He asked. 

“I’m keeping an eye on you.” Glared Usopp. 

“Okay...” Said Law, watching Usopp back. Long Nose-ya had swivled his chair around, leaving his sketchbook behind. His arms were crossed in front of him 

“I would help, but I don’t have any eyes to keep on you ~ yohohoho” Laughed the skeleton, going back to playing a little tune on the piano and humming along with it. 

Law wondered how he could hum if he didn’t have any lips, the skeleton sure was an odd one. He also wondered how they got the grand piano into the room. 

“Oh that’s easy – Franky built it in the room.” Law jerked back and his narrowed eyes darted up to look at Usopp. 

“Did I say that out loud?” He asked under his breath, hoping he hadn’t fallen back into his habit of muttering, like he occasionally did on his ship when he had too much to think about. His crew usually stayed clear of him when he started, as it usually ment he was liable to start leaving their heads unattached to their bodies. He didn’t think he had that much on his mind, or was that pissed off, but yet... he was muttering? 

“Yes! You did, that’s me! Straw Hat lookout, best eyes and ears of the crew.” Usopp said proudly, pointing to himself with his thumb and his pencil. 

Law declined to answer, keeping his lips sealed, he had to be careful about muttering he guessed, didn’t want any of the Straw hats with peculiarly good hearing to pick up on anything he didn’t mean to say. 

He walked back out towards the door. 

“Where are you going?” Echoed Usopp’s voice. Law declined a reply, walking around the outer edge of the aquarium, where he could see the ocean out the windows. It was a beautifully built ship, with all its quirks. 

Usopp hovered over to his side and Law scowled at his as he walked quickly around the outside of the aquarium bar. He decided to try to ditch him by heading back to the deck.

Luffy was yelling something about meat as he walked back out. Law figured that he’d have a headache before he left the ship simply from the racket from his soulmate – their captain, he corrected in his head, he was the Straw Hat’s captain first and he wouldn’t think about that other thing he was, not when it didn’t matter to law.

“Torao!” Luffy turned towards Law with a large grin on his face. Luffy sprinted towards him, stopping right before he crashed into Law and topped forward slightly, bumping his head into Law’s chest as his momentum carried him forward. 

Law grimaced at the shoddy butchering of his name that seemed to be stuck as his nickname now. 

“Hello Straw Hat-ya” He said. 

“Come help me make Sanji make me diner.” It was more of a suggestion than a demand. 

“No.” He said, thinking of the angry glare and insult that Sanji had thrown his way. 

Luffy pouted. “I don’t think Sanji likes me.” He tried to reason. Luffy waved his arms around.

“Well he’s not listening to me, you’re a guest, maybe he’s listen to you.” 

“I’m not hungry.” He admitted to Straw Hat. 

“That’s a lie.” Luffy demanded. “You didn’t eat any of the snacks Sanji made, of course you’re hungry.”

Law let out a little breathy laugh at that. “Not everyone has your appitite Straw Hat.” He said, before fixing his expression back to deadpan. He looked down at Luffy again, who was grining up at him even wider than before. “What?” He asked.

“Torao smiled!” He said enthusiastically. “I did it! I got you to smile.”

Law scowled harder, actively refusing to catch Luffy’s contagious smile. “No- I did not, you’re delusional, you should have Chopper check your head.” Law thought he maybe protested too much, but he could feel his soulmark grow warmer on his shoulder.

He wanted to get away from Luffy. 

“shhishishi, if you say so.” Straw Hat laughed, bounding away towards the other side of the dock. Law kept his scowl plastered on his face. 

He had only got a few more feet up the stairs towards the kitchen when the door flew open and Sanji burst out, a cigarette in his hand which he uses to gesture angrily towards his captain on the deck below. 

“Luffy! Snail Call for you.” He started back inside when he spotted Law out the corner of his eye and gestured to him as well “You too – ex-Warlord of the Sea" 

He glared up at Snaji, the title doing much to make him uncomfertable. 

**\----**

By the time they got off the call, Sanji had finished cooking. Law ate lunch with the Straw Hat crew and the extra people that they had picked up from Punk Hazard. 

He found himself going along with the crew despite their antics and overall overenthusiastic mood that Law wasn’t used to. They were different that the Heart Pirates by a lot, from their refusal to talk about plans and to their jumping from subject to subject is such a loud and noisy way. Noisier than any other pirate crew he had encountered.

Although it wasn’t like he had ever eaten Lunch with any pirate crew other than the Heart pirates. Except...

He tried not to think about it as he ate his food and yelled at the Straw Hats. The food was really good. He wasn’t sure why he told the cook that he didn’t like bread but he did. The cook gave him a lecture about how he should have said it earlier instead of being ‘a rude rat bastard’. However he did give hime a dish without any bread. 

He had thought that Snaji wouldn’t have gone through any extra effort for him, since most of the straw hat crew seemed to distrust him. (Not Luffy though, he trusted Law... too much, in Laws opinion).

Still, the Straw Hats were all rather _nice._

Law didn’t want to get too friendly with the Straw Hat crew, even though it seemed like their plans for the next few months would match up if they survived Dressrosa. 

He stole a glance over to Luffy, who was stuffing his face remarkably fast while also talking to the small pink dragon kid. 

Straw Hat might be his soulmate, he thought, but Law didn’t need that bother in his life, he didn’t need the kind of emotional vulnerability that relationships carried with them. He didn’t _need_ bothersome emotions. 

What he needed, was to get his revenge. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up: Dressrosa! Which will mostly be skimmed over except for eveything that I change. Which currently isn't too much.


	4. What a Heavenly Way to Die, What a Time to be Alive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the Island of Dressrosa... and all that follows...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! I know it's been a while since I posted a chapter, but I hope y'all enjoy this one!  
> (also, if it's not said in my story, assume canon just happened, cool?)

**\--The Thousand Sunny, off** **the coast of the Kingdom of** **Dressrosa** **\--**

Law changed his outfit on the Sunny. He took off the navy blue sweatshirt and packed it away into his bag where his thick winter coat was and took out a lighter, long sleaved coat. He paused for a mintue, with the coat scrunched up in his left hand and picked up his right and drew it over to his other arm. 

He ran a finger over the soulmark where it lay just beneath the swirling heart tattoo on his shoulder. It looked like dark black ink, if Law didn’t know any better he might have thought that it was just another tattoo. But it wasn’t ink. The thick black X was a part of his skin, and like he had a million times, he wondered the significance of it. 

Luffy was running around the Sunny somewhere above decks. Law could hear his footsteps thundering above him. He had never spent as much time with his soulmate before -after Marineford didn't really count - he hadn’t planned to, didn’t care to continue to. 

Straw hat was interesting, he’d give him that. But Law could not for the life of him figure out how the universe could think that they were compatible with each other. Luffy was more liable to give him a headache and a heart attack than any sense of security. 

He quickly slipped on the long dark coat with ‘Corazon’ stitched into the back, leaving his shirt off so that the curling heart tattoo on his chest was visible. The orange band the wrapped around his right arm lined up with the soul mark beneath it. 

He turned Straw Hat’s mark into his own. 

He grabbed his sword and opened the door to head out to the deck. 

Everything would go according to plan. He told himself. 

**\--On the Island of** **Dressrosa** **\--**

Everything would go to plan, wouldn’t it? 

Wouldn’t it? 

Law got shot, three times, captured, thrown in seastone cuffs, forced to listen to Doflamingo's ramblings – _not_ part of the plan. But neither was Straw Hat Luffy. 

And that was when Luffy picked him up and threw him out the window. Law gritted his teeth as Straw Hat wrapped his rubbery arms around his middle. 

“Careful with the bullet wounds” He shouted as Luffy bolted off carrying him like a sack of potatoes over his shoulders. He had surprisingly bony shoulders for someone made of rubber and they dug into Laws gut uncomfortably. 

His soulmate mark was acting up, their bond growing, but if Luffy’s was too, he didn’t show it. Maybe didn’t notice it. _Fuck this._ Thought Law, but it wasn’t like he could do anything at all with his wrists still encased in seastone. 

**\--** **Dressrosa** **, The King’s Plateau, Top Level--**

_Corazon._ Law thought. Thought of the name stitched onto the back of his coat and the man who had worn the same name. _Corazon,_ _corazon_ _,_ _corazon_ _, the heart pirates, I’m doing this for him._ He lashed out at Doflamingo, yet the man seemed un-fazed, the blow glancing of him. Doflamingo reached forward. 

He watched in horror as Doflamingo’s eyes turned towards him with a curious intensity. arm and his now ripped sleeve. Law glanced over to where he looked, his left arm where the sleeve was ripped and tatted, falling away from his bicep to reveal hill soulmark. It was faded, the mark on his arm, the X that was once dark black and covered by his sleeve was now a shade of lighter grey and fading slowly. It no longer matched the tattoos on his shoulder and forearm. 

“Oh - fufufu - that’s not a tattoo, is it. Not like those other ones you have” Doflamingo laughed. Laws eyes widened in surprise, caught off guard for a second by the sudden mention of his soulmark. “Looks like Laws met his soulmate, wonder who...” He sing-songed in his creepy voice. 

“Fuck off” Law snapped back, turning his attention towards the fight again, but Doflamingo already took advantage of the distraction he attacked, overpowering him. He felt a thin string wrap around his left arm where his soul mark was and then slicing pain as his arm was ripped off. 

He tightened his grip around his sword and dug it into the floor to stop from falling over right then. Law knew that it was a very intentional choice, ripping off his left arm right where his soulmark was. There was a sudden burst of pain, one that felt a little more like a shock than getting his arm ripped off – although they were almost indistinguishable. He felt the faint connection between him and Luffy, one that he barely even noticed was there, go dark. 

There was something – and then there was nothing. 

He hadn’t even noticed it until it was gone, like static in the background that grew louder so slowly that you didn’t realize there was any noise until it was silent again. 

He felt emptier than before. 

He closed his eyes for a moment. He had never heard of a soulmate bond snapping so suddenly before. He didn’t think it was possible. Law gritted his teeth and stared up at Doflamingo as he clocked the pistol he had pointed at Law. 

The opened them again, he saw the sky, clear blue, few clouds above, the sun was shining down. A beautiful day. Law shifted his gaze down, stared down Doflamingo through the pain. He would survive this much. He could do it. Luffy would think him dead, but he wasn’t. For some strange reason, Law wanted to live. He wanted to finish what he started. He wanted Luffy to know he lived. He wanted Doflamingo to pay, and he wanted to see it happen. 

He closed his eyes as he heard the gun fire his lips barely moving as he summoned the room. 

He would believe in Luffy. Believe in the Straw Hats. He would believe in miracles. 

\--- 

Law heard Straw Hats yell, wondering if Luffy had also felt that terrible ‘snap’ that wrecked through him when their bond broke. 

Law stared up at Luffy, through eyes mostly closed and smeared with blood, still not feeling their bond. He wasn‘t dead, but there was no way Luffy would know that. Soulmate bonds break if one of them dies, yet neither of them were dead. 

“Torao!” Luffy yelled at him. _I’m not dead_ , he tried to say, tried to quietly let Luffy know, while he shook his body. _Fight. I’m not dead, fight._

Despite his weakening stamina, as Luffy charged at Doflamingo, he switched positions with him, nailing Doflamingo in the gut with Gamma Knife. But even that wouldn’t work. 

He needed a miracle. Or twelve. 

He felt the force of conquers haki break the room, the oppressive feeling of two unstoppable forces clashing. 

Luffy’s foot hovered above his face, stopping Doflamingo from stomping down onto him. Law fought through the pain and squinted up at the face of his soulmate, his former soulmate he supposed. He had never seen Straw Hat so angry. He had never seen the face that smiled so much contorted with such anger. He had seen Luffy in pain, but not like this. The force of the Haki clashing was almost enough to make Law black out again, however he stared up with more determination than before as Luffy kicked Doflamingo’s foot back and charged towards him. 

"That's my soulmate!" Luffy yelled at Doflamingo as he charged, fist pulled back. Law's eyes widened in shock, mirroring doflamingo's as he switched places with Luffy and struck Doflamingo before falling back down.

The millions of thoughts about Luffy that suddenly ran through his head were replaced with two.

_You're wrong, we're not soulmates anymore._

And:

_I have to beat Doflamingo. I have to do it, for Corazon._

**\---**

When Law’s arm was sewn back on and bandaged by the Tontatta he felt another shock. He sat up coughing up blood, and wiped it away from his face with the back of his hand. 

He could feel something again. Not the arms carrying him as they ran. Not his own pain. But something else. 

Anger. 

It wasn’t his. 

Law’s eyes widened. _Luffy._ Was it even possible?

He grabbed the arm of whoever was carrying him. “Stop,” He growled out, coughing through the blood. It felt warm and liquid in his throat and he ignored all his medical knowledge to tug again at their arm. “Take me to Straw Hat, this is his fight now.” And Luffy wanted to win, Law could feel the determination, the anger, the frustration. They felt like feelings once removed from him, but they were coursing through Law’s body. “but if he wins, I want to be there to see him beat Doflamingo, and if he dies, I want to die together, by his side.” 

His eyes found the top of the castle above where the black lighting of a clash between conqueror's spewed out. That was where he needed to be. 

He felt himself be slowly lowered down to the ground. 

If Luffy would win it would be a miracle. If he would loose, Law would be glad to have had him for a soulmate. 

\--- 

As Luffy fell from the sky, Law raised his good hand and summoned a room, the word murmured just under his breath, Luffy appeared on the ground next to him. He stared at the figure of the man in front of him. Just a little bit of him that had doubted Straw Hat’s ability to leave miracles in his wake fizzled out. 

He reached out, farther forward, but stopped just before his bloodstained fingers could touch Luffy’s face. He looked him over, he was out cold. He wished he could do something to heal him but the last room had already used up the last of his strength, he was still struggling to remain conscious. 

“You did it.” He murmured to the sleeping figure. “You beat Doflamingo.” Law smiled, a slight upturn of the corners of his lips. He stared down at the expressionless face of his soulmate. 

He hesitated at the thought. 

With his shaky sewn back on hand, he moved aside the sleeve of the sunflower shirt. The skin below it was unmarked with the band that used to be there. 

Law felt his heart skipped and dropped as he spotted the empty expanse of skin. The space where there was once a solid black band now erased. 

He thought it had come back but he had guessed wrong. Perhaps it had simply been anger and that was all. 

“Maybe.” He mused, thinking of how Luffy had fought, how he had acted when he thought that Law was dead, how he had fought for him, how he had defeated Doflamingo, not just for himself, but also for Law. “Maybe I wouldn’t have minded you being my soulmate.” He said, touching his finger to Luffy’s arm, the black band that used to be there spread out like ink from the tip of his finger, swirling around in a thinner line and ending in a heart that matched the one inked onto his chest. 

Law blinked, suddenly startled by the appearance of the mark. Suddenly startled by the relief he felt. He traced the black band and the swirling heart in the center. He laughed. The movement made his ribs hurt and he gently held a hand to his side and winced.

He looked back down at Straw Hat's unmoving form.

 _Maybe we are a little bit compatible._

Law had forgotten what it was like for someone to really fight for him. Fight for him to be alive. He heard the voice of the straw hat crew in the distance, shouting their captain’s name. Law stared down at the mark on Luffy’s arm. 

A choice. 

He ripped off a piece of his tattered coat and wrapped it around Luffy’s shoulder. Wrapping it twice, tying it twice. 

He still wasn't ready to admit it to the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the whirlwind of Dressrosa
> 
> EDIT: So I updated that tags, and if they don't line up to the story quite... just shhh, they're for the later chapters too


	5. Let me Know, is Your Heart Still Beating?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Law and Luffy talk after the events of Dressrosa

**\--A hill looking over** **Dressrosa** **\--**

Law woke up early, the light was dim outside the window and the Straw Hat’s were passed out around him in the small house. He sat up, feeling the strain on his muscles. He had been sleeping on the floor and his back ached slightly from that, and the fact that he had been completely beat up the day before. His sword was resting next to him, in his hand. He lifted his arm, the one that had been reattached. It felt stiff, but it worked. Holding it in front of his face, he flexed the fingers on by one, they all moved.  
  
Law scanned the room around him.  
  
He was wearing a black button up shirt that he didn’t remember putting on the day before. It was likely borrowed from someone, though he wasn't sure who. He ran a hand through his hair. His hat lay across the room from him on a dresser, the last of his belongings other than what he wore. The rest had disappeared as soon as he told the Straw Hat's left on the Thousand Sunny to leave.  
  
Luffy was sleeping on the only bed in the house, spread out taking up the whole space despite his small body. Law cracked a small smile. The rest of the straw hats were sleeping around the floor on the cabin. They all seemed so weirdly vulnerable for a top notch pirate crew that had just taken down a warlord.   
  
Doflamingo. He remembered, Doflamingo was defeated, finally. And he was still alive. He smiled faintly at the thought.  
  
He felt watched. Another scan around the room made him realize he wasn’t the only one awake. The Straw Hat’s swordsman was watching him with his one eye.   
  
Law nodded at him as he stepped over the bodies of the sleeping Straw Hat crew and headed for the door. He pulled it open and stepped outside, feeling the breeze and the fresh air wash over him.  
  
The house was on the top of the cliff, overlooking Dressrosa. Law walked to the edge and sat on a rock by the edge of the cliff, looking out at the destruction that Doflamingo had wrought upon the island. The lines carved into the bedrock. Rubble strewn across the ground, the structure of the island shifted completely.  
  
Yet he smiled at the thought of Doflamingo being slammed into the ground and beat to shit. Beat to shit by Luffy.  
  
His coat was left somewhere in the ruins down below, among the rubble and the broken buildings. He wished he had it, even though it would have been shredded beyond repair. Despite the warm summer island weather, it was a bit chilly on the cliff.  
  
He brushed his fingers over the raised stitches that he could feel under the bandages wrapped around his arm. It still hurt, but felt more like a bruise or a cut than something that had detached his whole arm from his body. Leo, the small Tontatta, had done a pretty good job for sewing it on in the middle of a fight. He clenched his fist, still amazed at how well his arm worked despite it being completely chopped off. His hand shook slightly, a nerve issue most likely.   
  
Curious, he unwrapped the bandage to look at the wound.   
  
The scar was just below the edge of the shirt sleeve, and it bisected the mark on his arm. The black x looked a bit off - more like a K now than an X – but law hoped that it would fix itself. He had read somewhere before about soulmate marks being particularly hard to get rid of.   
  
He'd never thought that he would be glad that they were particularly hard to get rid of though.  
  
Still, he had never heard of a soulmate bond breaking before like his and Luffy’s had during the fight. He had heard to them fading, if you forget who your soulmate is they fade away, or if something happens to make you two so at odds with each other, they fall apart. But he had thought that it would be like a slow unraveling, like when feelings go away, it would go away with it.  
  
But Law didn’t have feelings for Luffy in the first place.   
  
And he had certainly hadn’t ever heard of a soulmate bond repairing itself like that.   
  
So suddenly. He remembered the second shock, the one that mimicked the first one two years ago, when the arm that now lay under his fingers got reattached. He was nowhere near Luffy then, yet he still had a mark. And he remembered the cool calm feeling when Luffy's mark spread outward from his fingers.  
  
He had never heard of that before.  
  
Law managed to wrap the bandage around the wound, covering it back up.  
  
He didn’t have romantic feelings for Luffy, but Law realized suddenly that somewhere between being carried around Dressrosa like a piece of luggage wrapped in seastone chains and being tossed out the window with one arm... also a bit like a piece of luggage, Law had... made a bit of peace with the idea of Straw Hat being his soulmate.  
  
Maybe it was the enthusiasm despite the overwhelming odds against them, and that they had won anyways.  
  
Maybe it was because even though Law had lied through his teeth about the alliance and his motives, that Luffy still wanted them to work together.   
  
They had trusted each other.   
  
Law realized he was smiling. He didn’t mind too much. It was an odd feeling, one he wasn’t used to. One that reminded him of Cora-san. He thought of Cora-san's smile, always trying to cheer him up. He thought of him, how he cared, he would have been proud of Law, for not dying for the cause, for surviving anyways. 

He only wished that Cora-san was still there to see him now.  
  
“You’re happy.” Came a voice behind him.   
  
He shifted slightly in recognition of the presence behind him. He looked up at the figure, wet lines rolling down his cheeks.   
  
“You’re happy but you’re crying.” Luffy peered down at him, his face and straw hat leaving a shadow over Law, his brow knit together like he was thinking.  
  
“Sometimes people feel a lot of emotions at once.”   
  
Luffy sat down beside him. “Shishishi, that’s true, you feel a lot of emotions, I have ten emotions.”  
  
Law ran his hand quickly over his face to get rid of the tears. “Really- what are they?”  
  
“Um-” Luffy began, taking a seat next to Law's legs, “Happy, hungry, with my crew, the feeling when I saw Sabo, I think that’s a bit like happiness- but bigger and sadder, anger, oh I felt that one yesterday, hungry, pride, um.. Sad, and hungry.”  
  
“That was eight, Straw Hat-ya, not to mention you said hungry three times.” Luffy laughed, big and wide.  
  
“I’m hungry now!”  
  
“I figured.”   
  
“Sanjis not here to cook for me...” He trailed off, disappointed.  
  
“You do know hungers not an emotion.” Law said.  
  
“Eh? Yes it is!” He exclaimed. Leaning back against the rock and titling his head up to Law so he could see Luffy’s expression.  
  
His smile was wide and genuine, beaming up at Law. Law tried not to smile back, Straw hat’s contagious smile threatening to creep onto his face.  
  
Law sighed, looking back out over the island, towards the Marine ships in the harbor. Luffy felt lonely, he felt proud, he was happy. There was something like sadness too. Maybe regret.   
  
He heard Luffy humming a tune beside him, a quiet off key humming, one mostly snatched up by the wind.  
  
Law wasn’t super great with his own emotions and he wasn’t much better with someone elses. His eyes found Luffy’s arm, the band that was wrapped around it had changed, It wasn’t completely solid black anymore, it had swirls coming off the side of it that matches the designs on his chest. And in the middle, like a charm on a bracelet, was a heart that looked just like the one on his chest and on his shoulders. It curled in from the center, changed again.   
  
He wondered if he should bring up the soulmate question to Luffy. Bring up the obvious connection that they had, the way that Luffy had casually mentioned that they were connected, that he could feel what Law felt.   
  
The words that Straw Hat had shouted at Doflamingo in the middle of the fight. How long did he know? Law thought, a weird bolt of fear shooting through him even though he had nothing to be afraid of.  
  
Nothing but his own emotions and the captain he was allied with beside him. An alliance built on lies, and what else? Hope? He had gotten what he wanted, didn’t he? Now what?  
  
He noticed that Luffy had gone rather silent beside him the humming now over.   
  
Law glanced over at him, sitting cross legged next to Law’s legs. His hands pooled in his lap. His eyes fixed on the horizon, looking out past the island, past the marine ships, towards the edge of the sea and the sky. Determination flashed through Law in the way he was getting used to feeling – like he knew it wasn’t his own emotions he was feeling.   
  
“Torao” Luffy said, his eyes not leaving the sea, “We’re going to take down Kaido.”   
  
Straw Hat Luffy was a carrier of miracles, and Law was alive to tell the tale.   
  
“Yeah.” Law replied. “We will.”   
  
He felt calm again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first part of this fic mostly followed canon, and the second part will be a little looser, covering post-dressrosa and the journey to Zou. Which isn't super written in canon so, _freedom_.


	6. You Just Wanna Go Where Your Problems Won't Follow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yeah they've escaped from Dressrosa... but now what? A party! Obviously.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my longest chapter, which is still a lot shorter than most other fic chapters (sorry, I tend to write in small snippets, its just my style), but it's also a bit chaotic, mostly because it's a party and party's can be kind of chaotic. Also it is kind of emotionally rollercoaster-y, whoops. (I finally got around to updating the tags though!)

**\--Off the Coast of Dressrosa** **, on the Yonta** **Maria--**

On the giant ship, the pirates bowed in front of Luffy, pledging themselves to him as the Straw Hat grand fleet. Law felt his heart sink a little, the thought that his alliance _was_ something special was quickly knocked down. Law pulled his cap down over his face just a little bit more. 

“No.” He looked up at Straw Hat blinking, sure enough, the words had come from Luffy. He didn’t expect that. He expected anything but that – with how quickly Luffy has agreed to his alliance proposal on Punk Hazard, how much Luffy had already trusted him by then. 

_Maybe he already knew we were soulmates, then._ He mused as the party kicked off to a start and the meteors started to fall from the sky. 

\---- 

Law tried to stick to the edge of the party. Pirates that he'd never seen before were crawling all around the unfamiliar pirate ship. He missed the Polar Tang. He missed the Sunny, with its weird but oddly charming architecture. Like the aquarium, and hell, what Law would have given to spend more time on that dumb grass covered deck with the slide than the creaky huge ship that was the Yonta Maria. 

He had tried to sneak off to the vast hold of the ship - but it seemed that there were Pirates all over the whole thing. Sitting in little clusters, drinking, eating, sharing stories about Dressrosa and their journeys across the Grand Line prior to it. 

All off them seemed to want to have words with Law. Whether it be to drunkenly shout that he was 'a good guy' as one pirate had so eloquently put it, as he tried to clap Law on the shoulder from several meters away. 

Depth perception. 

Or they wanted to call Law an asshole for sending a hundred pirate hearts to the navy and maybe slug him in the face. 

He managed to dodge that one. And to switch his feet before he returned back above decks, where he could at least have a good vantage point of what was going on. 

_If you can see it,_ _its_ _easier to avoid it._ He thought. Resting Kikoku against his shoulder as he sat down by the bow of the ship, near the helm. 

He could see three of the five straw hat pirates all partying below. 

Usopp was sitting on Franky's shoulders while he talked animatedly with what was probably one of the Tontatta warriors. It was hard to make out from the angle. Robin was sitting off to the side, avoiding the majority of the crowd but Law could tell she was listening keenly to what was going on. Law pegged her as the kind of woman who knew everything about what was going on, but kept her lips sealed unless it benefited her. 

He caught her eye and as she looked up at him, seemingly amused. 

She winked and Law quickly looked away from her. While he figured that he would probably get to know Nico Robin, with their similar hatred of the World Government and solitary personalities, it didn't stop her gaze from unnerving him. 

He scanned the crowd for the rest of the straw hats. Eventually spotting Zoro getting into a drinking competition with one of the giant pirate captains. Law wasn't sure if he wanted alcohol poisoning or was just dumb. He shoot his head and spotted Luffy's bandaged form walking over towards him. He adjusted his Straw Hat on his head as he greeted another pirate cheerily. 

He had a piece of meat on a kebab in his hand and was heading straight towards Law. He watched as Luffy stumbled across the deck, tripping slightly before righting himself and dropping down into Law's lap suddenly, not seeming to mind the fact that his sword was already there. 

Law frowned at the sudden intruder and moved his sword from digging into his thigh, setting it down next to him and trying to push Luffy off at the same time. 

“Nosh.” Said Luffy, through a mouthful of meat. “I’m nuff moffing” Law pushed against him one more time, stretching his head out before giving up as it snapped back. He dropped his head against Luffy’s shoulder in frustration. 

“Shouldn’t you be partying or something.” Law complained. 

Luffy swallowed and stretched out his arm off towards the rest of the ship. “I am partying.” He said, laughing as his arm snapped back with a piece of meat now in his hand. “Shishishi, it’s you who’s not party-cipating.” He laughed again, this time at his own joke. 

Law looked out and watched the meteors fall into the ocean all around the ship. Their splashes echoing out as they missed the massive fleet of ships around them. He thought about all the captains trying to pledge their allegiance to Luffy. 

“Straw Hat–ya," Law started, “Does your refusal to ally with any of the other captains effect our alliance?” 

Luffy laughed again. “Of course it doesn’t!” He exclaims. “I didn’t want to ally with them – but I want have an alliance with you, you’re my soulmate!” 

Ah yes, the soulmate question. 

“anyways, what kind of world would it be if my soulmate was my enemy, then I’d have to fight you whenever I see you and I don’t want to fight you.” Luffy continued, waving his arms around as he finishes the next piece of meat. 

Luffy’s elbow smacked into his left arm. “Hey watch it!” He warned Luffy, who didn’t seem to hear him. The wound was still pretty sensitive, the stiches still obscuring the mark, marking it look more like a ‘K’ than an ‘x’. 

He thought again, as he had many times since he bumped into Luffy two years ago, about the soulmark never changing from an x. He wondered why, Luffy’s changed so drastically but his had never moved. Luffy's had disappeared, but as far as Law knew, his mark never did. He touched the tender wound lightly, looking down at his soulmate who was humming along to the music now, and took in a deep breath. 

“Why an X?” He asked Luffy, who looked back up at him and grinned. 

“It’s because you’re one of my crew!” 

Law blinked at him. “I’m not part of your crew.” _I'm your soulmate._ But he couldn’t quite bring himself to say it. Not yet. Maybe not ever – he thought. But he had his own crew, his own ship, he wasn’t a straw hat pirate. 

Luffy laughed. “I know, I know. The X mark though, it’s the symbol of my crew that my crew uses. Well, that we used. When were where at Alabasta back in Paradise, we all inked X’s onto our wrists so we would know who was who because there was a really cool guy that I broke out of impel down with who could change his face!” 

Law wasn’t quite sure he followed, since Impel down _definitely_ happened after they visited an island that was rather early in the grand line. 

“And one of my crew, the princess, actually had her soulmark right there, on her wrist,” Luffy jabbed a rubbery finger against the back of Law’s wrist. “it was an X! We were platonic soulmates, according to Nami. She had another one though, also she stayed behind because she had to lead her country, so that was sad.” 

Luffy’s split second frown burst back into a smile “Also, all my crew has one of those, I didn’t know that but apparently they all knew that. They just forgot to tell me, or they were hiding the information, I never asked. Then again I didn't know to ask!" He laughed "Except Chopper. And Brook, but I think that’s cuz he doesn’t have skin. And because he’s dead. Or maybe both.” 

Law blinked again, he thought he understood what Luffy was saying, but every other word just confused him further. His crew was soulmates with him, even platonic ones. He wondered what that meant for him. He wondered if the Straw Hat crew were all two-way soulmates with Luffy. If they could all feel their captains emotions - if they were all that connected to each other.

His mind kept running in a loop, thinking about the fact that he wasn't Straw Hat's only soulmate. Wondering _why_ _,_ exactly, Luffy had fought for him on Dressrosa instead of letting him die. Thinking about how it wasn't something special.

Luffy picked up Law’s arm again and pointed to his bandaged and hidden soulmark and then to his own left wrist, “Just like that one, except it didn’t have the scar.” 

Luffy got serious all of a sudden. It was quiet except for the sound of the wind and the crowds of people on the deck below them. But Law couldn't hear then that well, he was listening to Luffy. “I’m sorry about the scar.” He said. “I wish I could have stopped him before he did that to you.” He pouted, breaking the stiff mood a bit. 

For some reason the look was a lot sillier than it had ever been before, and Law let out a slight laugh at the irony. 

“Straw Hat-ya.” He said, smiling. “I wouldn’t have an arm _and_ I would be dead if it wasn’t for you. A scar is nothing. Plus,” He grinned. “I gave you a bigger scar.” He pointed to Luffy’s stomach. “We’re even now, I saved your life, you saved mine.” 

The look Luffy gave him was a smile but it was incredibly genuine. It made Law feel something weird. An emotion he didn’t like. 

Did he actually _like_ Straw Hat? He frowned, dismissing the notion. He didn’t like people like that, not even his soulmate. Whatever, he would put off thinking about it, at least that much was easy. 

The whole thing was giving him a bit of a headache if he was honest. He needed a drink. He conjured a small room and switched Luffy with a bottle of alcohol. Luffy bounced right back to his feet and continued on his way, unfazed by the whole matter, he slipped right back into the party. 

Law didn't like romance, didn’t like soulmates, never wanted one. A glimmer of a thought from his childhood came back to him. How much he wanted someone to understand him, a soulmate. He flinched at the memory. 

It was from a dark time. 

Nothing would really come of Straw Hat being his soulmate, after all, nothing more than an alliance. He simply shared a soulmark with Luffy, just like the rest of the Straw Hat crew. 

Nothing special. 

\---- 

When the music picked up again, Law was still sulking off to the side of the party. Sitting on a crate and leaning up against the mast, he looked down at the party-goers bellow. Luffy was still eating and dancing (if Law could call that dancing) and smiling. He hadn’t stopped smiling once. 

Law scowled. 

The Tonatta sat down next to him “Trafaland” He called out. Law scowled again, he didn’t need yet another bothersome nickname to haunt him. 

“Ah-” He said, realizing. “It was you who sewed my arm back on, wasn’t it? Thank you.” His name was Leo, he was pretty sure. He clenched his left arm into a fist. “It works really well – how'd you get the nerves to reattach properly?” He asked out of medical curiosity. 

Leo blinked. “That’s just my devil fruit power.” He said. “I can stitch anything.” 

Law nodded, he had been hoping for a more medical explanation, something that might teach him something that he could use in surgery. 

“Well - thank you.” 

“Well - thank _you.”_ The Tonatta replied to him. “It was real heroic of you to take on Doflamingo.” 

Law shook his head at the notion. “It wasn’t heroic, I was just doing it for revenge, I’m a pirate, not a savior.” He stared down at the rowdy crowd below. “If you want to thank anyone – thank Luffy.” He muttered. 

Luffy didn’t have any personal gain in beating up Doflamingo. Law had lied to him, and still, Luffy decided that he was going to keep fighting even before the birdcage was dropped. Law would have left the island as soon as the factory was destroyed, if he’d had a choice. 

“Well - you still wanted to take down a tyrant, no matter your motives, so thank you – even though I’m part of the Straw Hat grand fleet, I’ll still be indebted to you too, Trafaland.” He chirped out before getting up and walking away. 

Law stared out at the crowd. He really didn’t think he deserved any praise for Dressrosa. His initial plan would have likely hurt the citizens of Dressrosa even more – if Kaido’s wrath would have really been brought down upon the island. 

He didn’t deserve any thanks because he was acting for revenge. Right? 

He stared off into the distance, back towards the rocky island of Dressrosa, now just a dot on the horizon. They had been freed from being Doflamingo’s puppets, but it had cost them. It had cost them more than it had cost Law. 

Because Law was still here, with both his arms, still standing. 

At least Doflamingo was on his way to Prison. 

A shadow blocked out his vision, he looked up warily to see Straw Hat standing behind him. “Shishishi - Torao” He laughed. “You’re still sulking back here when you should be partying – come on!” Straw Hat grabbed his hand and started to pull him up. 

“Straw Hat-ya-” He protested, sitting back down and dragging Luffy down with him. Luffy fell half onto his lap for the second time that day, one of his legs stretched out over other of Laws – leaning back against the same mast that Law was leaning against. “I don’t really want to party.” He said, knocking his head back against the mast. 

Straw Hat yawned beside him. 

He was still thinking about Dressrosa, but he didn’t want to be. Kept thinking about Joker’s - about Doflamingo’s wicked smile as he ripped off his arm. 

He could feel Luffy’s enthusiasm but that didn’t change his own feeling of numbness. 

“Oh Kay” Said Luffy, as if it was two separate words instead of two letters. “I’ll sit here and talk with you for a little while, but only if you go and dance with me afterwards.” 

Law grumbled over the decision but agreed to it. “Maybe I can actually teach you how to dance instead of that flailing around that you do. 

“That’s called dancing!” Luffy exclaimed. 

“No- it really isn’t.” Law frowned, maybe it was the alcohol, or Luffy’s infectious personality creeping up on him, but he kind of didn’t care if Luffy had dragged him over to dance. 

Luffy swung his legs off of Law and stood up, offering him his outstretched hand. “Come on Torao! You can show me how to dance then.” Law signed and took Straw Hat’s hand. 

His smile was enough to blind him, it was like staring at the sun. 

Luffy’s hand was warm in his. And he kept stepping on his toes, off beat to the music. As Law tried to teach him to move to the beat instead of against it. Their hands were clasped together in front of each other, but Luffy seemed to have other ideas, and kept dropping Laws hands. 

He was also poorly humming along to the song. 

He got a pitiful smirk from Roronoa drinking in the corner and he glared back. 

Law was starting to regret this. 

“Your crew doesn’t seem to think you’re any good at this either.” He muttered to Luffy, who was currently trying to spin Law around, and as Law didn’t agree with this action, it looked more like Luffy waltzing around Law. 

“Eh- yeah.” Luffy agreed. “Brook keeps trying to teach me to dance or sing or any of those things but the dancing lessons are no fun and the singing lessons got stopped by Nami.” He laughed. “She was very angry at Brook.” 

Law laughed slightly at the thought of the short Straw Hat navigator trying to beat up Brook. She was almost the opposite of his apologetic navigator. 

“I miss Brook.” Luffy pouted. “this music’s not as great.” 

Law hummed his agreement, acknowledging it even if he wouldn’t say it out loud “you’ll see them soon.” 

“Oh yeah I will! I’m going to Zou!” He paused in thought, causing Law to trip over Straw Hat’s feet. “So, what are you going to be doing next?” Luffy asked. 

“I’m going to Zou, as well.” Says Law, just like he had told the Straw Hats back when he was on the Thousand Sunny – except this time it was completely true. “My crew’s there- remember?” Law was looking forward to seeing his crew, he hadn’t seen them since they dropped him off at Punk Hazard what felt like ages ago. They were all pains in the asses, but they were still his crew, and he missed them. Even Penguin and Sachi, though he'd hate to admit it. And would _never_ say it to their faces. 

Luffy gasped at his comment, staring up at him wide-eyed. “Is the fluffy bear going to be there?” He beamed. 

Law frowned at Luffy. “Bepo? Yes, he’s going to be there, it’s his vivre card that I have.” Of all of his crew mates, he missed Bepo the most. 

“Do you think he’ll join my crew now?” Luffy asked enthusiastically. 

“No!” Law yelled, no actual anger behind his words. “He’s on my crew! You can’t go around stealing other people’s crew mates.” 

“I cant? Shishsishi you haven’t heard how I got Nami then – I beat up a whole pirate crew for her!” 

Honestly Law didn’t know what he had expected. “Yeah - but we’re allies, and I’d prefer if you didn’t beat up me.” 

Straw Hat laughed again, but he could hear the exhaustion creeping into Luffy’s voice, could feel it through their bond. He grasped Luffy's hands tighter, as if he would slip away if he let go. “Silly Torao, I wouldn’t beat you up, I love you.” He yawned, leaning his head against Luffy’s shoulder. 

He froze. Law wasn't sure if he should drop Luffy's hands right then and there, honestly, he had _no clue_ what to do right then and there. If Law didn’t know better he’d be sure that someone was playing tennis with his heart right then. But it was definitely still in his chest. 

Straw Hat could probably feel his pulse thundering away, but if he did he didn’t say anything. He just sighed, collapsing into Law just a little bit. 

Law didn’t say anything, even though he could feel the sincerity of Luffy’s words. Sincerity that scared him just a little bit. He wasn't sure what exactly he was supposed to say to Straw Hat. _Thanks? You're welcome? Try again later?_ If there was one thing he was sure of, it was that it was none of those things. _I mean,_ he thought, _the last time someone said something like that to me I-_

He cut off his train of thought and shoved it aside to the back of his mind where it couldn't bother him. 

He looked down at Luffy, his straw hat off his head and that forehead leaning into Law, his hand wrapped around Law’s uninjured arm. 

"m tired, Torao" Straw Hat mumbled into Law's chest. 

Law took a breath, his head and his heart still trying to process what Luffy had said. 

It took a moment for his body to catch up. 

"Come on" he said, pulling Luffy out of the crowd of people still dancing beside them. Luffy tripped over his own feet again, dragging them against the ships dock. Somewhere in the back of his mind the logical part of Law's brain was busy wondering if Straw Hat could get splinters. 

Law sat down on the floor of the ship, his back leaning against the bumpy railing, the only thing that separated him and Luffy from the choppy sea of the New World below. 

Luffy collapsed into Law and the floor, his cheek got squished up against Law’s shoulder and he felt the warmth of drowsiness spreading through their bond. 

Straw Hat was tired, hellishly so, as Law would have expected even with Luffy's increased healing, of course he still needed rest. 

He smiled as Luffy twisted his hand into Law's shirt. "Come on- Straw hat-ya, you're still awake, move over." He chastised, but there wasn’t as much animosity as Law had expected himself to have. Law picked him up easily and shifted him off to the left side of his body. 

Luffy didn’t let go of Law’s shirt and he leaned his head against Law's shoulder, offering zero help to Law. He guessed that Luffy really had fallen asleep right then and there. 

Law looked down at the two of their shoulders, nestled neatly together next to each other. Luffy's right arm leaning against Law’s left, just like they had when Straw Hat Luffy had bumped into him at Sabody Archipelago all those years ago. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Outtake that I didn't include because it would "ruin the mood":  
> Law can tell someones watching them and looks up to find Robin looking over at them and hiding a chuckled behind her hand.  
> He scowls at her.


	7. Putting Out Fires That I Started, Looking for Reasons to Argue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some things are changing, some questions are answered

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been way to long since I last update this fic, so I caved and split this chapter. I've been having trouble with the second half of it but I feel really bad about not posting, I hope you enjoy!

**\--The Straw Hat Grant Fleet, Somewhere in the New World--**

As the crews began to depart one by one, Leo the Tontatta pulled Law aside. 

“Trafaland!” He called. Law paused and looked down at the small dwarf that was carrying what looked like a rather bright yellow tablecloth. “I wanted to say thank you for helping beat Dofflamingo...” He held up the fabric. Law smiled slightly at the act of kindness. 

“Thank you – but you really should be thanking Luffy.” 

The Tonatta nodded. “I know – but he isn’t one to accept gifts – we're forever indebted to him and we’ll always come to his aid.” He nodded again before running off to join the rest of his small crew. 

Law thought it was rather nice. He looked at the package in his arms, wondering what it could be. 

He unwrapped the package and pulled out a sweatshirt. It was bright yellow with his crew’s jolly roger embroidered onto the back and a second small one over the heart. He noticed the black sleeves then... and the yellow ‘x’ that was stitched onto it. 

He shoved the sweatshirt back into the bag and glared after the tonatta.

When Leo turned around and waved, Law gave him a forced smile back.

There was another sweatshirt also in the bag – this one was nearly identical except it had no sleeves – and would very much show off his soulmark to the world. 

He remebered then that the Tonatta was the one who sewed his arm back on... of course he would have seen his soulmark. And as it was probably faded grey at the time, recognized it for what it was. 

The soulmark of someone in danger. And the obvious connection would have been someone on the island. Law grimaced at the fact that the tonatta was likely able to figure out exactly who his soulmate was. 

It was then that Luffy took the moment as an opportunity to ricochet himself across the ship and knock Law over into the Banister. 

He dropped the sweatshirts as he steadied himself against the railing to keep him and his rubbery soulmate from falling into the sea. 

“Careful!” He chastised, putting his hand down from where he was about to summon a room to stop them from hitting the sea. “You almost just knocked us overboard.” 

Luffy disentangled himself from Law, laughing his head off at Laws annoyed expression. He noticed the jackets on the ground. 

“What are these?” He asked, moving to pick them up. 

Law summoned a small room and switched them with a splinter he had picked up off the railing. “A gift from Leo.” He supplied.

“Really?” Said an enthusiastic Luffy. “Can I see?”

“No.” Frowned Law.

Luffy peered at the sweatshirt, his hand darting out to grab it. This time- Law didn’t have anything to switch with the bag, so he couldn’t stop Luffy from pulling the yellow sweatshirt out and admiring it. 

“Torao!” He exclaimed, flapping the left arm of the sweatshirt towards him. “Look! It’s got my mark on it! Isn’t that so cool!”

“Yes,” Said Law, sarcastically, “so cool.” 

Luffy ignored him and started marveling over the other jacket, commenting on the fact that he could finally see Law‘s tattoos all the time. 

Law sighed. “Now can I please have that back?” 

Luffy looked up at him. “Oh yeah- sure.” He smiled. “Those sweatshirts are great, you should definitely wear those!” 

Law looked at Straw Hats blinding smile and joyful expression. 

He scowled. “Maybe.” 

\---- 

The Barto Club’s ship was significantly smaller than the Yonta Maria. It was also _significantly_ creepier. Law grimaced at the strange effigy of Straw Hat that made up the bow of their ship.

The other Straw Hats seemed to agree with him about it’s creepiness. 

“I don’t really want to get on that ship.” Muttered Usopp beside him. 

Law shrugged, even though he agreed with Usopp, “It’s our only way to Zou at this point.” 

“Shouldn’t have agreed to let him take us” Law heard Usopp mutter again. 

They boarded the ship, and Law’s grimace just kept getting wider with every passing moment. He had started the day off pretty terribly, waking up from a restless night’s sleep with both a headache and a backache. That’s what he got for drinking, and then not drinking any water, and then falling asleep in the most uncomfortable position.

And the Yonta Maria didn’t have any caffeine. 

Law considered the Barto Club to be almost as bad as the Straw Hats, no, scratch that. They were _way worse_ than the Straw Hats. Because they obsessed over Luffy and didn’t know how to sail the goddamn ship. 

The only benefit of the crew’s creepy obsession is that they more of less left Law alone. 

And he wasn’t to keep it that way, it would have the journey slightly more bearable if they ignored him.

Law was hiding in the mess hall below decks with a bowl of soup that he had found in the kitchen. The rocking of the ship had at first made him queasy and he had already lost his breakfast once. The ship was a lot more unsteady that the Sunny, which was already wobblier that his ship. Despite him still not feeling too great, he was also feeling particularly hungry.

Likely courtesy of his very empty stomach.

The door to the mess hall burst open, revealing to Law that it was raining outside.

“Hey!” The crazy green haired captain yelled at him, pointing an accusatory index finger in Law’s direction, “that’s my soup!”

Law let go of the single spoon he was using to slowly stir the soup. It clattered loudly as it hit the edge of the bowl. He took a seat at the table stirring it around and staring up at Bartholomew. He was tempted to just give the guy the soup, but he also didn’t like him enough to do something nice like that.

Bartholomew huffed at Law complaining about the soup while Law ignored him.

Until he changed the subject.

“What are you doing hanging around Luffy-senpai so much? Huh, I saw you acting all friendly at the party, what’s up with that?” Bartholomew threatened Law. 

_Fuck._ He thought. _Just what I needed to get him to leave me alone, him to be mildly observant._

Law looked up at him slowly and slurped down some of the soup. He grimaced- it wasn’t that good. Too spicy. He set the spoon back down without breaking eye contact with Luffy’s weirdo fan. 

“What’s it to you.” He deadpanned. 

Barto frowned. “As Luffy-senpai’s number one fan, I consider it my responsibility to make sure that you are not trying to take advantage of Luffy-senpai's kindness.”

Law quirked a thin smile, arching his eye brows. “You don’t know Straw Hat can take care of himself?” 

Barto sputtered, “of course he can, Luffy-senpai is amazing...” He started to gush and Law frowned, he didn’t get the reaction he hoped out of him. 

“And what if I am manipulating Luffy?” He continued, with the same flat tone of voice

Barto snapped back to the present. “So you admit it you scheming fiend.” The thought occurred to Law that most people he met thought that he was up to something. He guessed that he just gave off that vibe. 

He shrugged and took another spoonful of soup. 

Bartholomew stormed off, slaming the door to the mess hall behind him and muttering something about ‘getting Luffy-senpai to throw him off the ship’

Law smiled at that. The chance that Luffy would listen to Barto about that was very slim, in fact, Luffy’d be more likely to convince Barto to like Law... 

Law dropped his spoon back into the bowl, some of the soup clattering out onto the table. Luffy would definitely tell Barto that they were soulmates, he did not what a rumor like that spreading around on a small ship of Luffy fanatics like this. 

He summoned a room, scanned the area, finding Luffy sitting on the railing by the front of the ship, and switching him with a mop that was in the corner of the room. 

Luffy fell a few inches to the ground across the room from Law. He looked up, his confused eyes finding Law’s still outstretched hand. 

Law didn’t move as he dissolved the room. 

Luffy stood up and quickly walked over to Law, he stepped up from the bench on the other side, sat down on the table in front of Law, and picked up his hand. 

_Right._ Law remebered, not at all helping the panic that crept up like ivy growing up the walls of buildings. _Right, he can feel this too. Fuck._

“What’s wrong?” Asked Luffy. Law doesn’t really see him, his eys aren’t focused on anything.

Law closed his hand around Luffy’s and let their joined hands drop. He looked up at the Straw Hat Pirate captain. He could feel the concern radiating off of him and also felt the calm that came with their proximity. 

“I-” He wondered how to start, feeling a bit tounge tied, and hating that he couldn’t just hide in the mess hall for the rest of the day and not have to talk to anyone or think about anything. “I don’t want you to tell people that we’re soulmates.” He admited. 

“Okay.” Luffy said back nonchalantly. Law looks up at him a little bewildered by how fast Luffy agreed. He felt a lot calmer now. Law attributed that to their bond. 

Luffy continued to look at him like he was waiting for another question from Law. “Thank you.” Law said finally, dropping the tension from his shoulders. 

Luffy laughed. “It’s no issue!” 

Law smiled back a really weak smile. 

“You’ve been smiling a lot more.” Luffy exclaimed, the smile on his face somehow growing even wider.

Law thought about it, the more time he seemed to spend in Luffy’s presence the more he seemed to smile, even when he wasn’t even that happy.

“Yeah - I guess I have, you have a pretty contagious smile.” He admitted, not meeting Luffy’s eyes. Instead he stared down into his soup

“I like it when you smile.” Luffy admitted. Law looked up at the straw hat clad boy, not saying anything. 

“Hey Torao-” Luffy stars. “If I can’t tell anyone that we’re soulmates, does that mean that I can’t tell my crew?” 

“Luffy-ya, you can tell your crew, of course you can tell your crew.” He paused, “You haven’t told them yet?” 

Luffy shook his head. “Nope, I didn’t tell any of them! Although some of them know about the soulmate mark, just not who. Oh, except maybe Zoro, I think he’s the one who did my bandages back on Dressrosa. Although I don’t know if he could have figured it out just from that. It’s kind of cryptic, y’know.” 

Luffy was swinging their linked hands together. Law considered what he had just said. Sure the solid black band had been cryptic enough, but the new mark was pretty unmistakably Law’s it looked like a tattoo that _he_ would have. It matched the ones on his shoulders and chest. 

Law wondered if Luffy had seen the new soulmark, or if he hadn’t yet. Or if he really didn’t think that it was recognizable enough to link him to law... for some reason. 

“When did you figure out I was your soulmate?” Law finally asked.

He scrunched up his brow like he was thinking. “Um- when we were on Dressrosa, I heard you say something, when I was fighting Bellamy. It was ‘ _Corazon’_ or maybe it was ‘ _Cora-san’.”_

Law felt his blood run cold. 

“And Robin told me that’s what was written on your jacket when we were back on the ship, also it was your voice, so I was sure it was you.”

Luffy. Luffy had _heard_ him? Law wasn’t sure he heard that right. That wasn’t possible.

“Straw Hat-ya, did you say that you _heard_ me say that.” Luffy grinned at him.

“Yeah! Though the soulmark – it was like you were talking to me, except you weren’t there.” He frowned. “And then right after that something weird happened and I could hear you anymore. I couldn’t feel you anymore.”

Because their soul bond had broken, right after Luffy had heard what Law was thinking. He wondered if the two unusual circumstances were connected. He had never heard of either thing happening before. 

But this _was_ the grand line, maybe something like Luffy being able hear Law’s thoughts was... actually possible?

Law really felt like he needed to read up more on soulmates. He considered heading to do some more research into it right then, but he didn’t think that the Barto Club had an extensive library. Or that any of them knew how to read.

“That’s unusual.” He murmured. _Really unusual._

He heard Luffy’s signature laugh again. “I don’t think so, it’s kind of cool!”

“Unusual doesn’t mean bad.” 

“Oh-” Said Luffy. “Okay then.”

There was a brief pause in the conversation. They both stared at each other. Law didn’t really have anything left to say to Luffy. 

Law heard yelling from the decks above, that broke the awkward moment and silence..

“I’m gonna go check on that!” He exclaimed – jumping up from table and running out.

Luffy slammed open the door. “Hey Torao! It’s nice out again!” He yelled over his shoulder before Law heard the thunder of Straw Hat running up the stairs. 

He thought about how strange his bond with Straw Hat was. Broken then reformed just like it had before. He closed his eyes and ran his tattooed fingers over the bandages on his arm. He could feel Straw Hat’s enthusiasm. He focused on the bond between them. Feeling the uncanny amount of emotions that came with it. He couldn’t _hear_ straw hat. 

He wondered what Luffy had meant by that. And he had only known that Law was his soulmate for such a short amount of time...

_Wait._ Law thought suddenly. _That means that he didn’t know I was his soulmate back on Punk Hazard. That he just trusted me anyways._

He stared at the spot on the table across from him where his reckless soulmate had just occupied and started to laugh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I went from like a kind of regular once a week update schedule to a two week hiatus, but now hopefully I am back and getting those chapters out.
> 
> However the reason I took that break is partially because I was outlining another OP fic that I will hopefully write - _however_ I really want to finish this first
> 
> Also: those of you who have really burning questions about things in this fic, ask in the comments and i'll either answer or tell you when they'll get answered in the fic!
> 
> UPDATE 2/12/19: ON HIATUS UNTIL MARCH (sorry this update's coming so late, but in good news, I should have another chapter posted by mid-march at the latest)


End file.
